Was this originally titled “Airport 1974”?
I remember seeing it at the theater when I was a little kid and that’s the title I remember. Plus it was actually released in 74.
shareGreat question. Nope, it was always called "Airport 1975" and it didn't make sense at the time. I think it came out in October...plenty of 1974 was left.
They corrected the mistake three years later: "Airport '77" WAS released in 1977.
Interesting "release trivia":
When "The Poseidon Adventure" became such a hit at Christmas of 1972(it was either Number One or Number Two for the year, behind The Godfather) "the race was on" to make more disaster movies.
And the first crop of them hit two years later, in late 1974, in this order:
October, 1974: "Airport 1975" a Universal movie(cheapish) with Charlton Heston and George Kennedy.
November, 1974: "Earthquake" a Universal movie(cheapish but better effects)...with Charlton Heston and George Kennedy. (Universal had no real "range of casting," eh?)
December, 1974 "The Towering Inferno" a joint Warner Brothers/20th Century Fox movie, very expensive with two very big stars(Steve McQueen and Paul Newman) leading the all-star cast. It was said that two studios needed to finance the film to pay for two superstars, two directors, and two books combined into one title(The Tower and The Glass Inferno.)
The Towering Inferno was from Irwin Allen, who also produced The Poseidon Adventure and who, this time, had the budget to buy the best in talent. I recall building excitement as a lot of us waited for The Towering Inferno at Christmas by watching the "lesser" Airport 1975 in October and Earthquake in November -- they were the "opening acts" for the Big One.
But soon...the disaster craze died down and out. At the end of the 70s, Irwin Allen pitched nothing but losers, one(The Swarm) by one(Beyond the Poseidon Adventure) by one(When Time Ran Out...about a volcano...with a humiliated looking Paul Newman in it.)
Came 1980 and the spoof "Airplane" the disaster movie craze was over.
Until it came back...
I remember when the disaster movie craze was happening. There were also quite a few TV movies as well. I remember my dad wanting to see Earthquake when we were on a trip in Miami because the theater had Sensurround which wasn’t available in Key West where we lived.
shareI remember when the disaster movie craze was happening.
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It seems like all crazes start with a stand alone blockbuster or two. "Airport" was SORT OF a disaster movie -- except the plane made it and there was only one death. It was more of a multi-character soap opera. But Airport was a hit, and when The Poseidon Adventure hit big (and it WAS a disaster movie)..game on. By 1974, there were plenty in the pipeline ready to release. In 1975, we got "The Hindenburg," as a 'historical disaster movie" with a real disaster.
"Jaws" was sort of sold as a disaster movie...and might have felt more like one had Heston played Chief Brody, which would have been horrible. It overcame the disaster moniker to play more like a very special mix of thriller, horror, adventure and...comedy.
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There were also quite a few TV movies as well.
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Yes, much cheaper productions with TV level stars. I think Irwin Allen produced one called "Fire" and one called "Flood."
One of the first ABC Movies of the Week was "Seven in Darkness," about a plane crash and the survival in the mountains of the seven survivors...all BLIND. And when they reached a rickety bridge that WE saw led to a big gap..."and now a word from our sponsors."
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I remember my dad wanting to see Earthquake when we were on a trip in Miami because the theater had Sensurround which wasn’t available in Key West where we lived.
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Nice place to live! I'm envious.
Yes, the key to Earthquake was that Senssurround, which I found quite fun -- really shook the theater and assaulted the ears. They used it over the first "long" earthquake, a shorter later one, and the final dam break.
As I found out the time, anyone can duplicate the Sensurround experience if you go to a jacuzzi or hot tub, get in, turn on the jets...and lower your head underwater near the jets. EXACTLY the same sound and vibration. I discovered this by accident.
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Universal patented the Sensurround process but only used it in a few more movies: Midway(WWII bombing action); Rollercoaster(for the rollercoaster rides) and a Battlestar Galactca movie. Evidently the speaker set ups cost too much to set up and sometimes knocked plaster off the walls and ceilings of theaters.
Sensurround was created by big speakers BROUGHT INTO the theater. Soon, Dolby, THX, and all the other modern sound processes would be BUILT IN to the theater.